Bestiary
by Bunny Fair
Summary: Titus and Cor finally had a few days off, so they decided to go camping with Alice. Who knew they'd end up watching beasts and visiting a hot spring?
1. Chapter 1

Cor and Titus trekked through the field, following after the excited young woman. She was surprisingly keeping ahead of them both, despite her shorter strides and the bag strapped to her back. They had their own travel packs but she had packed quite a bit more than they did.

It was a rare day for both the Marshal and Captain. They'd actually had a few days off and were spending it on a camping trip with their darling Alice. She'd been more excited than ever for camping and they questioned it before realizing exactly why.

Alice had always been fascinated by the beasts of the wild and with summer coming to an end, she demanded a camping trip. After some planning with the Glaive and the Crownsguard, she got them to join her. And once they got to their haven and set up their camping gear, they realized exactly why she'd been so excited.

She was checking on all of the beast populations, from the smallest group of cactuars to the behemoths. She had notebooks full of information, from their diets to behaviors and even their breeding habits. How she got all that, the men could only wonder.

Alice trekked up a hill and climbed onto some rocks, laying down on her stomach as she pulled her bag off her back. Cor laid down beside her and Titus sat, resting his arms over his knees. She smiled widely and pulled out a pair of binoculars, her feet tapping against the rock.

Titus looked out and blinked at the behemoths, narrowing his eyes as he leaned forward. "What the hell?"

Alice peered through the binoculars, a wide smile stretching across her face. "They're behemoths. Get my purple notebook out, I need it."

Cor snagged her bag and looked through it, tugging out the notebook and pen tied to the rings. "What page?"

Titus raised an eyebrow at them. Apparently this wasn't the first time they'd done this. Alice mumbled to herself as she examined the small group of behemoths and Cor flipped pages, Titus watching them both. Cor settled on a page and guided the pen into her free hand, curling her fingers around it.

She set the binoculars down and looked down at the notebook, jotting down a few notes. Titus glanced down at her scribbled notes, watching her swap between watching the group and taking notes. Cor smiled slightly and fished out his own pair of binoculars, reaching over Alice to hand them to Titus.

"Here, you won't get a better look."

Titus took them and peered through them. "Did you name these as well?" She'd named the coeurl pack apparently.

Alice nodded rapidly and peeked through the binoculars, zooming them in to look at the much smaller and younger pair as they rolled around the ground. "Of course, the grown one with them is Krito, she's absolutely gorgeous and I think she even mates with old Deadeye whenever it's time. That's why we're also so close to his den. It looks like the two are hers, which is really rare for behemoths to have twins. Unless she adopted one, but she wouldn't have done that if she already had one. Also, the coloration is just close enough to definitely be hers. I wonder what I should name them... or should I wait for next spring, when they're active again?"

Titus nodded slowly as she scribbled down notes and Cor smiled fondly at her, resting his cheek in his hand as he kept an eye on the beasts. "Name them now, we'll come back in the spring to check on them."

She nodded and tapped her lip with her pen, glancing around the area before slumping after a few minutes. "I got nothing. Y'all can name them."

Cor nodded and tapped his fingers, humming softly a he thought. "How about Shadowfang for one of them?"

She hummed and nodded, peering through the binooculars again. "Alright, that one can be the male, his chompers are much more prominent too."

He nodded and glanced over at Titus, who was staring as Alice wrote in her notebook. Titus glanced up at Cor and shrugged. "How about Ragespike?"

She frowned and looked up at him. "No, that sounds too edgy. Something else."

He rolled his eyes, softly sighing. He closed his eyes, his blunt fingernails tapping at the binoculars in hand. He was not prepared for naming beasts like this.

After a few minutes of quiet, he finally nodded. "Then, Klinge?"

She smiled and sat up to kiss his cheek, pulling her notebook into her lap to write it down. "Much better. Hopefully they'll still be together and in the same area next spring."

He smiled slightly, handing Cor the binoculars back. "Let's hope."

She nodded and packed up her bag, twisting to crack her back. "They don't tend to stray too far. Now, I need a bath. Head back to the camp and then hit the hot springs?"

Titus raised an eyebrow, standing up to offer her his hand. "Hot springs?"

She smiled widely and took his hand, letting him easily haul her up on wobbly legs. "Oh yeah and oh wow I have made mistakes, sheesh, okay, carry me please?"

Titus rolled his eyes and Cor chuckled softly, grabbing her bag off the rock. "I'll take the bags if you take princess."

Titus softly sighed and kneeled down, letting her climb onto his broad back. He hooked his hands under her thighs, glancing at Cor as he adjusted the bags onto his back. "Got them?"

Cor nodded and Alice gripped Titus' shoulders, smiling widely from her perch. "Cor knows where the hot springs are so I don't have to navigate but I need my soap, I feel all dirty and sweaty and icky."

Titus smiled slightly, focusing on keeping pace with Cor. "Well, you have been lying in the dirt, and racing ahead of us, and climbing trees, hills, and rocks. It's no wonder your legs feel like jello too."

She nodded and rested her chin on his shoulder, loosening her grp to let her hands dangle at his chest. She could very easily feel the sensations of his muscles moving under the plain brown shirt and was very much enjoying his large hands gripping the bare skin of her thighs. "I walked too much."

Cor rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. "I told you we should've gotten a chocobo."

She softly huffed, her breath fanning against the side of Titus' neck. "I made it though! Better than last year anyway."

Titus smiled and faintly spotted the outline of the haven, their things safely resting on the flat rocks. "And, what happened last year?"

She groaned, nipping his ear and glaring at Cor, who merely smirked and glanced away. "Don't say a thing, it was embarrassing."

Cor held up his hands, a small smile growing. "I won't say a thing."

She nodded firmly and rested her cheek on Titus' shoulder, enjoying the feeling of his muscles moving. "Good, now onward."

Titus chuckled softly and they walked to the haven, walking up the sloped rocks. They sat in chairs to eat some snacks before gathering their bathing items, Cor carrying Alice this time as he led Titus to the hot spring. Alice chatted casually with the pair, her hands gently hitting against Cor's chest as she explained some of the more intricate details of the beasts. And how tomorrow they would be moving to a different region to check on the tonberries, according to her estimation, her favorite tonberry should have a family.

The fact that she even had a favorite tonberry was concerning as it is. But, Titus was slowly accepting her being in tune with so many creatures. She'd gotten closer with the coeurl pack than he preferred, but they ignored her and Cor reassured him she was safe.

Titus shifted as the air slowly grew more humid, feeling beads of sweat gather on his forehead. He glanced over as Alice began fanning herself with her hand and smiled slightly, ducking under some branches. She giggled softly at him and kept her head down as CCor pushed past some thick branches.

Titus followed him past and blinked at the visible steam coming off the hot water. Rocks surrounded the pool of various sizes and some had been obviously moved into different locations. He stepped forward and Alice hoppped off Cor's back, walking over some large flat rocks.

She set the bag down on a dry spot and smiled over her shoulder at them, gripping the edge of her shirt. She giggled as they politely looked away and undressed, setting her bundle of clothes on the rocks. She sighed happily as she sunk into the water and waded into a deeper part, tilting her head back to wet her hair.

"All clear, princess?" Titus was very fond of that nickname for her.

She smiled, glancing up at him. "All clear, my darling knight."

He smiled slightly and walked over to the rock, tugging off his shirt. Cor followed suit, grabbing the bottles of soap and shampoo before wading in. Alice sighed happily as she massaged her neck, moving her head side to side.

Titus stepped down into the water, a soft groan escaping him as he stepped into the deeper end towards Alice. She giggled and moved over to him, kissing his cheek. "Feel better already huh?"

He nodded, kissing her temple as she hugged his shoulders, hanging off of him. "It's nice. I take it this is where you two run off to every other weekend?"

Cor stretched his arms across some rocks, resting his head back on a folded towel. "Only when it's warm enough and princess is up for the walk. Worth the trip every time."

Alice nodded, adjusting her grip to better hang of him, smiling as he hooked an arm under her ass. "It's so worth it."

Titus nodded, moving to sit beside Cor. Cor smiled slightly and kissed Alice's shoulder. "Shampoo?"

Alice nodded rapidly and pulled away from Titus, shifting to sit in Cor's lap. He held her hips and moved her forward, cupping some water in his palms to further wet her hair. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes, relaxing as he grabbed the bottle of shampoo.

Titus relaxed back, crossing his arms behind his head. He slowly stretched out and let himself fully relax, closing his eyes. He heard a soft chuckled from Cor and smiled slightly.

Cor combed his fingers through her hair and smiled softly, collecting water in his hands to rinse out her hair. He kissed her shoulder and softly mumbled in her ear, his bright blue eyes glancing over at Titus. She smiled widely and nodded slightly, pulling away from him to climb into Titus' lap.

She smiled as he cracked open an eye to look at her and smiled at him, hugging his shoulders as she sat on his thighs. She leaned up and kissed the scars on his face. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes, relaxing back.

She hummed happily and lightly kissed him, pressing her thumbs into his shoulders to massage them. He softly kissed her back and softly grunted when she hit a particularly rough spot. She giggled softly, continuing her massage on his broad shoulders.

He softly groaned and rested his head on her shoulder, hearing a soft chuckle from Cor. "What's so funny over there?"

Cor smirked, stretching out. "Watching you relax is a rare sight. Should get a proper massage when we go back to Insomnia."

Titus tilted his head forward as Alice gripped the back of his head, kneading the tight flesh. "This is good enough."

Alice smiled, glancing over at Cor. "Maybe we can go to Galdin Quay next time y'all get time off, that way we can all get nice massages and have a good spa day overall."

Titus softly grunted, glancing up at her. Cor chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't disagree if I were you."

Titus raised an eyebrow, glancing over at him. "I take it you already tried that."

Alice nodded, moving her hands down to his upper arms. "He tried. Turns out someone is weak to some eyelashes."

Cor rolled his eyes and leaned over, wrapping his arm around Titus' waist. "And a good blowjob never hurt to entice."

Alice snickered, pulling away to sit between them. "Hey, now don't reveal all my secrets. I'll give you one later, when we get back to the campsite."

Titus smiled, hugged her shoulders. "It's a promise."

She nodded, resting her head on his arm. "Of course, now let's relax. Tomorrow we're visiting the tonberries and they like to play."

Cor softly grunted, lifting her to sit her on his lap. "Yeah, 'play'. Let's just enjoy this."

Titus smiled slightly, loosely holding Cor's waist. Yeah, this was nice. He should take more time off, if not for himself than for them.


	2. Chapter 2

Titus slowly awoke to soft arguing near him and a sharp pain his calf. His head was propped up a pillow and he was covered by several blankets. He slowly opened his eyes and squinted up at the tent, slowly moving his hands before letting out a low groan. Holy shit, what happened, his veins felt like they were on fire.

The arguing stopped and the tent flap was pushed open, Alice peeking in with Cor standing behind her. She ducked in and sat beside him, gently feeling his forehead. "I'm so sorry, are you okay? I know tonberry poison can be very effective."

He narrowed his eyes at her, her cool touch feeling soothing. He slowly slurred out, "Ton... berry?"

She bit her lip, glancing away. "I'm so sorry, I know you just wanted to protect me but then you got hurt and oh my god, he's never lashed out like that before. I'm so sorry, TItus."

He frowned as a tear slipped out of her bloodshot eyes, ignoring the pain in his arm as he lifted it. "You okay?"

She nodded and lightly laughed as his hand missed, gently gripping his wrist to guide his hand to her face. "Yeah, I'm okay, just upset. I've got some more ointment for your wound prepped, so I'm gonna apply more. It stinks like hell, though."

He nodded slightly, letting her set his arm down before watching her move around. Cor slipped into the tent and sat on his other side, handing her a small jar of greenish goo. Titus watched as they tried to gently unbury his leg from the blanket and Cor guided his leg up for Alice to unwrap the bandages.

Titus frowned at the smell when Alice opened the jar, even noticing Cor scrunch up his nose slightly. Alice looked over the wound and took a deep breath, visiby relaxing. "Okay, good, you're healing just fine. Cor, you got fresh bandages?"

Cor nodded, holding up a roll in his hand. "Of course. How are you feeling, Titus?"

Titus softly grunted at the cool goo being spread onto his wound and glanced at Cor, focusing on speaking properly, "Everything aches. Fire in my veins."

Cor lightly smirked, reaching over to gently comb his sweaty hair back. "Yeah, that sounds right. It should pass by tomorrow. You'll be alright, big guy. Alice made sure to pack some cure for it. And some potions."

Titus frowned slightly. "Where?"

Cor shrugged, holding up his hands. "Hell if I know, but she packed overprepared apparently."

Alice softly huffed and took the bandages from him. "It never hurts to carry a few potions."

Cor rolled his eyes, leaning back on his hands as he sat cross legged. "You always bring too many. You've still got a dozen or so."

Alice puffed out her cheeks and let out a small screaming noise, keeping it muffled as she glared at him. TItus smiled slightly as she guided his leg to lay back down and watched as she fidgeted with the blankets, placing them back over him properly and tucking him in. "It's okay, princess. Safe than sorry."

She nodded, rubbing at her eyes again. "I'm gonna go wash off my hands and then I'll be back. Give him a potion while I'm gone, Cor. It shouldn't take me long."

He nodded, leaning over Titus to kiss her cheek. "Take your time, alright?"

She nodded, leaning down to kiss Titus' cheek before slipping out the tent. Cor leaned out of the tent to grab one of her bags by the strap, pulling it into the tent. He looked in it and shuffled around some things before pulling out a clear bottle, bright blue liquid shining in it.

"Alright, bottoms up." Titus softly grunted, carefully pushing himself to sit up on his elbows. Cor grabbed his arm, helping him sit up and lean against his side. "Come here, I gotcha."

Titus rolled his eyes and leaned into Cor, resting his head on his shoulder. "So, what all happened?"

Cor softly sighed, unscrewing the top as he retold their earlier adventure.

A few hours earlier, the trio had been traversing through the thick woods. They'd stopped for lunch in some shade, relaxing for a while before starting up again. Alice was particularly excited about the day as she was going to see her 'Ton Ton' as she dubbed him.

Cor merely smiled when the woods thinned out, revealing a small pond with ruined statues and a small temple. The white stones were overgrown with vines, some of them sporting small pods, and others were merely sitting in the water, taken over by moss.

Alice smiled widely and walked into the area, looking around. "Ton Ton! I'm here."

Titus glanced around, keeping his eyes low. He knew 'Ton Ton' was a tonberry, but they all were small and silent. And particularly fond of stabbing people. He narrowed his eyes as the water shifted and adjusted his body, ready to summon his sword. The one good thing about using the King's magic, no need to carry it with him physically.

Cor held up his hand in front of him and smiled slightly, shaking his head. "Wait, this is Ton's home. Alice is okay."

Titus shifted, slowly relaxing as a tonberry swam easily out of the water, bright yellow eyes staring up at him. The tonberry looked around at a squeal and Alice took several long strides over to it, kneeling down to open her arms. Titus took a quick step forward as the tonberry let out a shrill noise, the creature hobbling towards Alice.

Cor quickly grabbed his arm and jerked him back, but TItus stood stock still as Alice hugged the little beast. "Stop it," Cor hissed at him, "It's not even armed, so stop it. That thing is her friend."

TItus grumbled, still poised to summon his broadsword. "What the hell was that noise?"

Cor stepped forward, adjusting his hold to his shoulder. "It's a happy sound, see? It loves seeing her. Don't worry, I wanted to kill it too, but it makes her happy so don't you dare, TItus."

The larger man grumbled softly, staring as Alice looked over the small creature, chattering happily at him. The demon chittered softly, moving for Alice to look over him and kissed the top of his head. Cor smiled slightly and watched as Ton Ton grabbed at her sleeve, pulling her to the water.

Alice smiled as she followed him, glancing back at them. "Come look, just no sudden movements okay? He doesn't like those."

They smiled slightly and walked over as Ton Ton waded into the water, looking up at Alice as she tugged off her shoes. She smiled, stuffing her socks in her shoes before following him in. The pair of men glanced at each other before following her lead, rolling up their pants.

Ton Ton bobbed in the water, his tail easily keeping him in place as he floated by the torso of a statue. Alice walked over and gasped softly, pressing her hands to her mouth. "Oh wow."

The two men walked over, staring at the three small eggs. Inside the dark green eggs was a singular fish in each egg, wiggling every so often. They blinked, glancing between Alice and Ton Ton.

Alice smiled widely, wiping an eye. "Oh my god, Ton Ton, they're beautiful. And three! Oh, I'm so proud."

Titus frowned as it shrilled, swimming over to the eggs. "I thought it was male."

She nodded, smiling as she looked over the eggs. "He is. Tonberries are like seahorses, after the eggs are fertilized, the male takes them. And since someone has one of the best homes, I'm sure he had plenty of ladies visiting him."

Cor smiled, glancing around the ruins. "I'm sure."

Titus shifted, nodding at Alice's hopeful smile. "Yeah."

Alice smiled widely, turning to look at Ton Ton's eggs. Ton Ton shrilled softly, swimming around her before moving to the other side of the torso. Titus eyed it and straightened up at a glint, quickly stepping forward, disturbing the water and shuffling the eggs.

The next few moments happened in a blur, Alice was yelling at him (or was she yelling at the tonberry?) to stop and Ton Ton was darting through the water. The next thing that registered was a sharp pain in his leg and Cor dragging him out of the water while Alice yelled in the background. And then he blacked out.

Cor softly sighed, rolling the empty potion bottle between his hands. "I carried you out while Alice checked on Ton. Apparently, he wanted to show her some shiny things he found. You must've thought it was a knife and moved too quickly. Which led to Ton grabbing his knife and stabbing you."

Titus softly groaned, laying back. Potions always did make him tired. "Fuck. Is she okay?"

Cor nodded, setting the bottle back in the bag. "She's alright, very upset, but okay. Not your fault, she cries easily."

Titus grumbled softly, settling down as the pain ebbed away. "Shouldn't have made her cry in the first place. How's the little creature?"

Cor softly snorted, shaking his head. "Fine, the eggs are fine too. Get some sleep, we'll wake you for dinner."

Titus mumbled incoherently in response as Cor kissed his cheek, slipping out the tent. Titus felt himself slipping into sleep, bright yellow eyes shining in his minds' eye. Fuck tonberries.


End file.
